Less than a month before the release of its tentpole sequel How To Train Your Dragon 2, DreamWorks has flipped the dates for its next two films. Madagascar spinoff The Penguins Of Madagascaris moving up from March 27, 2015, to a Thanksgiving week bow of November 26. It’s switching places with Home, the aliens-hiding-on-Earth tale featuring the voices of Jim Parsons, Jennifer Lopez, Steve Martin and Rihanna. The move comes days after DWA CEO Jeffrey Katzenberg’s high-profile day in the Cannes spotlight, when Dragon 2 premiered on the Croisette and he received France’s Commander of the Order Of Arts And Letters honor. The date switch also follows the underperformance of the company’s most recent pic, Mr. Peabody & Sherman, which led to a $57M write-down in Q1. In fact, three of the studio’s past four films have failed to deliver, which Katzenberg blamed on “inconsistent execution” and other factors tied to marketing and scheduling.

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Amazon.com’s Instant Video is offering many Benedict Cumberbatch movies to viewers to buy or rent to watch from their computers. Fans can watch such films as Sherlock, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, War Horse, 40something, 12 Years A Slave, The Fifth Estate, August: Osage County, Third Star, Inseperable, Wreckers, Parade’s End, Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy, Girlfriend In A Coma, Hawking, Amazing Grace, Atonement, Creation, Four Requests, Star Trek: Into Darkness and many more. Choose your favorite Benedict movie to curl up with for the evening.. Click here to visit Benedict Cumberbatch Amazon.com Instant Video Page

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The Penguins Of Madagascar is a spin-off movie of the Madagascar film franchise. The film will feature the life of the penguins Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private in their own spy thriller adventure with a twist of comedy.

Directors Simon J. Smith and Eric Darnell will helm the film which, was penned by Michael Colton and John Aboud. The Penguins of Madagascar will feature the voices of Tom McGrath, Chris Miller, John DiMaggio, Christopher Knights, Benedict Cumberbatch and John Malkovich.

DreamWorks Animation’s The Penguins of Madagascar will hit theaters on March 27, 2015.

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**Older, but newsworthy:It’s fun to see the development of the careers of Robert Pattinson and Daniel Radcliffe to have similar careers after their respective tween franchises ended. Radcliffe has been canny with his post-Potter gigs, choosing projects that better straddle art and mainstream.

Pattinson has gone more for the weird when it comes to gigs outside Twilight. (Both the intentionally weird, and the unwittingly so.) And he’s got another gig with Cronenberg in the works now, a job with Werner Herzog, and a role in The Rover, from Animal Kingdom director David Michôd. That’s good company to be in.

Now add The Lost City of Z, to be directed by James Gray based on the book by David Grann about doomed Amazon explorer Colonel Percy Harrison Fawcett.

Benedict Cumberbatch is playing Fawcett, who nearly lost his life in the Amazon more than once, and finally disappeared with his son while making one last self-financed trip through the region. Screen Daily’s print issue at AFM this week (via The Playlist) says that Pattinson is now on board, and he seems like a possible pick to portray Fawcett’s son.

Here’s more detail on the book:

In 1925, Fawcett ventured into the Amazon to find an ancient civilization, hoping to make one of the most important discoveries in history. For centuries Europeans believed the world’s largest jungle concealed the glittering kingdom of El Dorado. Thousands had died looking for it, leaving many scientists convinced that the Amazon was truly inimical to humankind. But Fawcett, whose daring expeditions helped inspire Conan Doyle’s The Lost World, had spent years building his scientific case. Captivating the imagination of millions around the globe, Fawcett embarked with his twenty-one-year-old son, determined to prove that this ancient civilization—which he dubbed “Z”—existed. Then he and his expedition vanished.

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After receiving a bit of a delay last week, Universal has added two more exciting names to Baltasar Kormakur’s upcoming Everest. Joining a cast that already boasts Josh Brolin, John Hawkes and Jake Gyllenhaal, among others, are Sam Worthington and Robin Wright. Detailing the true story of a 1996 attempt to scale the titular summit that ended in disaster, the film is set for a September 18th, 2015 release date.

Currently shooting in Nepal, Everest is one of two competing films that Hollywood is churning out about the famous mountain. The other one is set up at Sony, with Doug Liman directing and Benedict Cumberbatch attached to star. That film is still in pre-production though and hasn’t been fully cast yet, so it’s likely that we’ll be seeing Universal’s version first.

According to Deadline, Worthington will play Guy Cotter and Wright take on the role of Beck Weather’s wife, Peach. For those who don’t know, Cotter is a “leading NZ Everest expedition expert” and Weather was one of the men that nearly died during the climb. In fact, he was left for dead but “recovered enough to walk alone and unassisted to nearby Camp IV.”

With a compelling story and an all-star cast, Everest looks like a surefire awards contender, especially now that it’s dropping in September. Worthington and Wright are both excellent additions to an already very impressive line-up and while I’m still not totally sold on Mr. Kormakur, having not particularly loved films like 2 Guns or Contraband, I’m still quite optimistic that Everestwill be a gripping and riveting experience that will have us hanging on for dear life.

Awards season is over and the mantlepieces of Frozen creators Jennifer Lee and Chris Buckare heaving with silverware. So, with a sequel rumoured to be in the offing, they have Hollywood’s attention – and one hell of a dream cast…

Top of their list are a trio of bonafide A-listers, one of which we know you’ll be pretty excited about…

Asked about a possible new team of actors, Lee revealed her coveted trio to US siteSheKnows: “I saw Jamie Foxx. I think he’d be good, we’ve gotta get him. Benedict Cumberbatch, he’d be good. Melissa McCarthy.”

Now, it’s not just our love of all things Sherlock that’s convinced us the Batch is a shoo-in. No stranger to voice acting, Cumberbatch recorded vocals and did motion capture work as Smaug in The Hobbit films as well as clocking up numerous parts in radio dramas including Radio 4’s acclaimed Cabin Pressure and Neverwhere.

Meanwhile, Chris Buck had a stash of suggestions to add to his writing partner’s list… “You know who would be a really fun one? Matthew McConaughey. He’d be a great animated character.

“Judi Dench. She’s amazing, I love her. She’s an amazing actress but she did do a Disney film recently.”

With the sequel still to get an official green light from Disney, it’s not yet clear whether original stars Idina Menzel, Kristen Bell and Jonathan Groff would return for Frozen 2. Although, given that their talents helped the animated hit become the 15th highest grossing film of all time, we imagine they’re in poll position – fingers crossed they’ll be joined by some serious star power. Watch this space, Frozen fans…

Benedict Cumberbatch appears to be unstoppable – go on try and stop him, we reckon you won’t manage it. The long list of Hollywood films he’s set to star in is rumoured to be going up again! After the success of Star Trek, he’s apparently teaming up with JJ Abrams again to take on another SciFi classic – Star Wars.
Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch is rumoured to be joining the cast of the new Star Wars film.
The Brit is expected to be announced as part of the new blockbuster with most assuming, like in Star Trek, he will play the villain.
Film Chronicles reports that the 37-year-old will be the main news in the imminent “casting announcement”.
If the reports are true it would mean him joining forces with JJ Abrams again after they worked together on Star Trek.
He once revealed, during press for Star Trek: Into Darkness, that he was actually more fond of the rival space adventures.
He said: “I was much more connected to [Star Wars] as a kid, in the way that a lot of kids are because it’s immediate storytelling, very simple – a beautifully, outrageously simple narrative in a way – and a wonderful three-act melodrama, opera.
“And I loved them. I really, really loved those films and I always wanted to be Han Solo.”
He added: “Everything Harrison Ford did I just thought was the coolest thing ever – Raiders of the Lost Ark was very much my upbringing as well.”
Benedict is thought to be set to play a new Sith Lord – but not Han.
Speaking at the Produced By Conference earlier this year, JJ Abrams said: “We are most likely, if all goes as planned, going to be moving to London at the end of the year for the Star Wars movie.”
He spoke about his plans for the seventh episode of the mega franchise: “It is so massive and so important to people.
“I think the key to moving forward on something like this is honouring but not revering what came before.”
It’s also thought that original trilogy stars Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher will return to the franchise.
When asked about the sequel back in March, Harrison told WGNTW: “I’m looking forward to it.”
He quickly backtracked: “I think it’s going to happen.”

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Coming soon are the MTV Movie awards, and while there is no confirmation whether Benedict will be in attendance or not, his movies 12 Years A Slave, The Hobbit: The Desolation Of Smaug and Star Trek: Into Darkness have several nominations, including a nomination for Benedict as Best Villain in his movie Star Trek: Into Darkness. One can only hope…
“The full list of nominations for the 2014 MTV Movie Awards has just been revealed, and the competition for the Golden Popcorn might be the toughest in years.
Perhaps more than ever, the nominations for the 2014 MTV Movie Awards are a mix of the year’s biggest blockbusters and the awards season powerhouses. The just-revealed list includes Oscar favorites like “American Hustle” and “The Wolf of Wall Street” (leading with eight noms each) and enormous franchise flicks like “The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.”
But now, the real choice is up to you. Take a look at the full list of nomination and vote before the MTV Movie Awards on April 13 at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT hosted by Conan O’Brien.”

Hmmm, maybe Darth Vader come back to life? Obi-Wan’s long lost son? The possibilties are endless….Benedict Cumberbatch and Gary Oldman are reportedly up for the same role in Star Wars Episode 7.
Director JJ Abrams has approached both the British stars for the same undisclosed part, according to MarketSaw.
Oldman previously confirmed that he had heard from the Star Wars team but didn’t say for what role.
He told Sky Movies: ‘They’ve called. I’m more cynical about it now. I’ll believe it when I’m on the plane home. The deal isn’t done, but yeah, they’ve inquired.’Oldman quipped that it would be the latest franchise he would be involved with: ‘I mean Planet of the Apes, Harry Potter, Batman and Star Wars – bloody hell!’Cumberbatch has previously joked that he has auditioned for Star Wars Episode 7 – as a lightsaber.
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug actor explained on Conan O’Brien’s show that he had been leaving director JJ Abrams messages on his mobile.
Conan asked him: ‘I heard that you very much would like to be in Star Wars and you’re lobbying JJ. Is that true?’
Benedict replied: ‘Yeah, it started with me with sort of…I just sort of would leave casual messages on his phone as a lightsaber.’
Star Wars Episode 7 is due for release on December 18, 2015.

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Benedict Cumberbatch has been attached to star in the thriller “Blood Mountain,” which Altitude Film Sales will be shopping to international buyers at the European Film Market in Berlin. UTA Independent Film Group is repping North American rights.

The film follows a private military contractor whose special forces team is ambushed and killed during a covert raid, forcing him to personally escort one of the world’s most wanted terrorists over hostile terrain in order to bring him to justice. With a bounty at stake and insurgents and rival mercenaries hunting them, the two find themselves facing not only their enemies, but each other in their fight for survival.

Here are some photos from Benedicts upcoming movie, “The Imitation Game”, a story about English mathematician and logician, Alan Turing, as he helps crack the Enigma code during World War II. The film also stars Benedicts “Atonement” costar, Keira Knightly..